Why did Pakistan reject Trump’s Abraham Accords in favor of an Iran peace deal?

Pakistan has become the first country to publicly reject US President Donald Trump’s offer to join the Abraham Accords as part of a broader peace initiative associated with Iran and the Middle East. Trump wanted several Muslim-majority countries including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Jordan to officially recognize Israel as part of the Abraham Accords. But Pakistan has made it clear, Islamabad is not ready to do that.

The Abraham Accords were agreements first suggested by Trump in 2020 to improve relations between Israel and Arab states.Under these agreements, countries agree to establish diplomatic relations, business relations and security cooperation with Israel.

The UAE and Bahrain were the first to sign the agreements, and were later joined by Morocco and Sudan. Now Trump wants more countries to join the bloc, saying it could bring long-term stability and peace to the region.

Pakistan’s refusal is a mix of ideology, politics, religion and foreign policy. Pakistan believes that recognising Israel without resolving the Palestine issue would be against its decades-old national position in very simplistic terms.

“Joining such an agreement goes against the fundamental ideologies of the country,” Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said. He also questioned whether Israel could be trusted diplomatically, making Islamabad’s position all the more forthright.

Pakistan has backed the Palestinian cause for over 75 years and has refused to recognise Israel diplomatically. Pakistan has said it can only recognise Israel if an independent Palestinian state is established with East Jerusalem as its capital.

This perspective goes all the way back to Pakistan’s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who opposed the partition of Palestine in 1947. Successive civilian and military Pakistani governments have largely kept the same line. Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar reiterated even recently that there will be no change in Pakistan’s policy unless there is a two-state solution.

Any talk of recognition of Israel is a very sensitive issue in Pakistan given the ongoing war in Gaza.

Public anger is widespread at the deaths of civilians in Gaza and many religious and political groups oppose any move towards normalising ties with Israel. Joining the Abraham Accords now would trigger a huge political backlash at home for the Pakistani government.

Iran is another big reason. Pakistan has a long border with Iran and important strategic and economic ties with Tehran. Trump reportedly linked the expansion of Abraham Accords to a broader peace deal that included Iran. But Pakistan appears uncomfortable in combining the two issues.

Islamabad does not want to risk its relations with Iran by being too closely associated with a US-backed regional arrangement involving Israel.

Pakistani passports do not recognise Israel, an important fact was stated by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif in his television interview. “Pakistan is still one of the few countries whose passport doesn’t even recognize Israel as a state for travel purposes,” he said.

The statement was made to highlight the entrenched nature of the official policy of Pakistan on the issue.